Upper Valley Equine Services, LLC

01/09/2025

We had a young friend come into the clinic this week. Check him out 😉

09/05/2024

Love the Long Ears! ❤️

08/09/2024

Did you know we service a few wonderful non profit organizations that go above and beyond to make the welfare and quality of life of all types of lovely four legged creatures better?
Did you also know our not so little secret? We LOVE the Long Ears! That being donkeys and mules. It’s taken years to pinpoint the the differences in their care and behavior and has been a humbling but fun journey for me. The more I learn about these guys the more rewarding helping them has become.
A few of the organizations that help these lovely long ears are Tomten Farm and Sanctuary, Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue, and Amazing Grace Farm and Sanctuary.

They can only do this with help of their supporters though! So please hop on over to their pages and check them out.

The more support they get the more Kelsi and I get called to hang out with donkeys🤭 I’m kidding the more I get to make a difference in their lives is the “point” I was trying to make (pun totally intended!)

05/18/2024

I say these words word for word everyday. This is especially important to know for those horses with certain dental conditions. We work with our horse owning clients everyday on how to feed your horse with they are having trouble with their hay and still maintain a healthy forage based diet.

If you believe that horses need grain in their diet to meet their nutritional needs, you are not alone. However, horses should get most of their nutrients from a good quality forage source such as grass, hay, hay pellets, or a complete feed.

Horses generally eat between 1.5-2% of their body weight each day, so an average size 1,000 lbs horse should eat 15- 20 lbs of hay daily. To help fill any nutrient gaps such as essential vitamins or minerals, a ration balancer may be beneficial. Depending on breed, body condition, and exercise level, concentrates may be added in to provide additional energy but are often not needed.

When deciding on what to feed your horse, it is best to invest in high quality forages as the foundation of your feeding plan. You can even have your hay tested to see exactly what nutrients it is providing. Please consult with your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist about your horse's diet before making any major changes, and remember that any changes should be made gradually over time to avoid GI upset.
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

04/07/2024

A look at animal behaviors during a solar eclipse and expert advice for keeping pets safe and calm during this rare meteorological event. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
https://www.dvm360.com/view/understanding-animal-reactions-to-a-solar-eclipse

03/21/2024

I am asked multiple times a day why there are so few Equine vets.

Here are some explanations and facts on the matter.

Deep breaths may be required upon reading 😬

03/02/2024

02/21/2024

Here is a quick photo dump! We went over the normal and the importance to look closely over all aspects to find the abnormal.

Let’s start with a few external and incisor examination findings and we can work our way back.

02/18/2024

We interrupt this dental educational month to reflect on what can happen in a year!

A memory came up the other day of Charlotte and I preparing for journal club. I had journal club again this morning.

What’s that? Well… I am into my 2nd year of my residency program working towards board certification in Equine Dentistry. This is part time for me so I can continue “Momming” and also continue to run the practice. So this journey may take me a total of 4-6 years.

Every other Sunday my resident mates and I meet on zoom with one of our mentors and present chapters from what we refer to as the Dental Bible. Occasionally, Dr Easley himself pops in which is awesome!

Well, these pictures were taken a year apart from each other. We are SO close! Coming up on chapter 33! These are very very detailed informationally dense chapters by the best of the best (yeah I know some of you are reading this 🤭)

This residency is more than another full time job. I have learned and become more skilled in more ways than I ever thought could happen in a year. I have had my radiograph set accepted (had to submit perfect images of all dental views) I have built the clinic up enough to have haul in cases for advanced procedures. I have invested in more equipment to be able to offer more services to further better the dentistry offered in our area for our client’s and for my colleagues client’s. Which leads me to saying how fortunate this residency makes me feel because I have developed such incredible relationships with our area veterinarians in the process. I have attended and presented at my first ever Veterinary Dental Forum, presenting on what will be my area of research for the residency. I have developed wonderful new relationships with many of the members of the AVDC in addition to those who travelled across the sea. I learned how encouraging everyone is and how far dentistry has come and see how well everyone collaborates to continue to bring it even further.

I feel so fortunate to be apart of all of this. I feel the most fortunate that in a time where our industry is quickly dwindling away, that I have only found more of a passion. I feel fortunate that I have created all these wonderful relationships both near and far with like minded and passionate equine veterinarians. It gives me hope that many of us can spread the contagious nature of Equine medicine and lure more equine veterinarians to the industry and stay in it🤞

So anyway, 33 chapters later, is how far we have come ❤️

Oh and Charlotte? Well, she has just intensified her Diva-ness (talk about a full time job!) 🤭

02/16/2024

Our last post we spoke on the importance of a proper and thorough oral exam. I left you all wondering what we might find in there. But first, let’s back up and touch on a few points (see what I did there) on normal horse dentition.

Horse’s have what we call Hypsodont teeth. Hippo what? Hypsodont! They have their incisors up front then 4 rows of 6 tightly packed cheek teeth used for grinding their feed into tiny tiny pieces to then have their nutrients absorbed in their small intestine. We really only see the tip of the ice berg when looking in their mouth. We see the crown but under the gum line is a long reserve crown tapering to roots, when young. As they get older, they erupt their teeth, ideally wearing at the same rate of 2-3 mm per year. Therefore, that reserve crown gets shorter as they age. With all of our modern dentistry and complete feeds and amazing medicine, we are getting horses to live well into their 30’s and some 40’s! BUT that takes proper diligent care and team work with your veterinarian. The important POINT to remember here is that the tooth is ERUPTING and WEARING not growing. So, we have a FINITE amount of tooth over the course of their life. They WILL run out of tooth if they live long enough or if they get floated too aggressively or have any abnormal wear patterns. The different feed types we have plays a role in the wear of their teeth in addition to tooth on tooth and their annual floating.
As a horse chews, they will chew in a figure 8 pattern. Their top teeth (maxilla) are wider apart then their bottom (mandible) so we have an uneven grinding surface. That is why they get sharp enamel points on the outside of their top teeth and tongue side of their bottoms. In a well-maintained mouth, ONLY the sharp enamel points should be taken down every 6-12 months depending on their age, feed, and feeding patterns.
Well, that is all good and grand, but horses don’t always read the book. I once heard hypsodont teeth compared to that of soldiers. They do what they are told to do. Erupt and wear. If they have nothing to wear against, guess what? They will continue to erupt! Dental abnormalities will only amplify over time. With the amount of chewing cycles they have in a day, this causes big problems that are often very painful.
We want to help, but we also want to do no harm. We can use this eruption pattern to our advantage at times if caught early. But we also have that finite amount of tooth to consider. It is very easy to do more harm than good if not addressing the primary issues or floating too aggressively and not watching what you are doing while floating.

Anything other than normal sharp enamel points requires a proper examination, diagnostics and careful treatment planning.
Remember our earlier post, 95.4% of horses over the age of 15 have AT LEAST one dental abnormality. There is a good chance our very good friends we care about need a good look, diagnosis, and treatment to help them feeling and living their best. Enabling them to utilize that expensive hay and feed you buy them, most efficiently! While also limiting any emergencies like choke and colic.
Up next, we will start sharing all the crazy things we can find inside. For now, here is a beautiful maintained mouth, a geriatric mouth, and a comparison of an extracted tooth from a 7 year old and that of a 28 year old horse.

Again, our main goal as practitioner’s is to keep as many functional teeth in their mouth, comfortably for as long as possible. The ONLY way to do that is to catch these things early. There is so much we can do for them before jumping to extraction.

02/11/2024

Still thinking about what a complete and thorough dental examination might involve? Well here we go!

We want to make sure no problems go unseen. So the closer we LOOK and FEEL and SMELL and use all the senses… ok maybe not taste but no judgement (ok I’m judging that’s gross) the more we will FIND. When we are set up for success to find all the information we need… the better prepared we are to do something about it and help your horse. That there is the goal! We want to keep your horses comfortable, with as many functional teeth in their mouth for as long as possible.

The only way to do this is to examine and examine often and catch things when they are minor. Therefore it is recommended to examine the health of their oral cavity at least every 6-12 months. As with everything it’s way easier to prevent than treat so please consider your horses oral care as part of your preventative/ routine medical care.

At every dental visit we want to touch on 5 important things.

We start off with a comprehensive History and Physical exam. This is where we might catch any signs of dental disease that you may have not considered. But it also makes us aware of any other health concerns that could be playing a role or need to be considered once we start making a treatment plan.

Then we sedate the patient. Now hear me out. I know many get worried here. But stick with me.

While your horse is relaxing we do our external examination. We are looking for facial symmetry, any hard or soft lumps or bumps, old injuries, anatomy in general, discharge or odor from the nostrils?

Now, we can look at their incisors and canines as part of our rostral oral exam. All done before placement of our speculum. We are looking at the soft tissues and surrounding structures, the gums/gingiva, the teeth themselves and what we call the endodontic status, that’s assessing the live portion of the tooth within the tooth itself. The periodontal status is assessing around or the outer portion of the tooth. Just like us horses get gingivitis and periodontal disease too!

Now, we can place our speculum and can start our caudal (back) or part of our oral exam. We may have already checked the bars of their mouth for any lumps or bumps or damage while they were getting sleepy.

Just like our rostral exam, we are looking at all our soft tissues, tongue, cheeks, palate etc. We are looking at every tooth and every aspect of it on all sides. We are looking at both the periodontal health and endodontic health just as we did with the incisors. We are looking for signs of abnormal wear, fractures, missing teeth, loose teeth. The list goes on.

For this to all happen. We need a very still, relaxed, and compliant horse. This is where the sedation is very important. We don’t want them worried, we want them calm and comfortable. This keeps them from hurting themselves or us and allows us to get our job done and done well. We (veterinarians) are all type A so we want do this right and well! We take our time, using a very bright light (we are looking into a dark cave essentially) while also using a mirror. This mirror we use to view each side of every single tooth alllll the way to the back. If there is food still packed in places we rinse and use picks and probes to remove it so we can better assess any problems beneath, taking any measurements if there are pockets between or around the teeth. The occlusal or grinding surface of the tooth is inspected very carefully to make sure no areas of the live portion of the tooth (pulp horns) are exposed. For this we use an explorer just like at our dentist! We make sure our explorer glides over these structures like glass, noting any spots where we may get caught up or stuck. These are very very subtle findings many times.

Many times, we can get an even closer look by using our endoscope or oral camera which is a great way to get to tricky places and magnify what we are looking at.

We take all our pictures, and make all our notes on an organized dental chart.

Now, we can discuss any further diagnostics, based on our oral exam findings, and start formulating a treatment plan.

Whoa sounds like a lot! It sure is, but taking the time to do this 1-2 times per year could save your horse a lifetime of difficulties and your bank account a lifetime of debits!

Plus. A horse with fully functional dentition will continue to grind their hay efficiently, getting more nutrition out of it (read that as less hay waste $$$ and a healthy horse) they will have decreased risk of choke or impactions, they may even shed less water in their f***s too (less scrubbing butts and tails!)

The pictures below are to demonstrate the difference between not having a bright light, a nice wide open mouth with a bright light, the information you can gain by simply removing the feed packing, then introducing a mirror. Once you take these steps, you clearly see this horse was packing feed due to a fractured tooth and needs much more than just a float. This horse needs further diagnostics to assess that tooth better and determine if it should be extracted or can be monitored. More on that later!

There is also an example of the first page of our dental chart. All of our notes go right here and into their files.

So far… dentistry in horses is WAY more than just a float!

So, where do we go from here? What are some of the fun things we might find in there?

02/08/2024

Did you Know?

There was a study performed stating that at least ONE dental abnormality was detected in 95.4% of horses over the age of 15.

Only 25% of these horses with dental abnormalities were reported to have a dental problem by their owners.

These abnormalities were found by a thorough oral examination.

What might a full examination entail you ask?

Well, here are some hints. Check back for more information on Oral exams for your horse and what to look for.

02/08/2024

I’ll let myself out…

Or! You could follow along this month for some cool info, stories, and lame jokes! 🤭

12/13/2023

Santa’s reindeer have been fully examined, found healthy, with their Health Certificates signed to say so.

They are ready to go for Christmas Eve!

In a joyful announcement for children and animal lovers alike, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has declared that Santa's reindeer are healthy and all clear for their magical Christmas Eve journey.

12/11/2023

EOTRH extraction success
Straight from the horse’s mouth…

Well in a way… kinda 🤭

Love hearing about success stories like this. If you read the comments, there seems to be many more success stories shared too!

Want to learn something interesting? Look close at this photo of Sassie. Do you see how her bottom lip is hanging? That's because she does not have any incisors (the teeth used for the grasping and tearing of food). Crazy right? Poor Sassie had EORTH (Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis). It is an incredibly painful and progressive syndrome in horses that results in resorptive lesions of the incisors (and sometimes the canine teeth) and the only treatment is surgical extraction of the affected teeth. What?!

The bad news is studies have not yet figured out the exact causes of EORTH. The good news is they can halt it in its tracks through extraction.

Last year we pulled her front teeth. I won't lie, I was nervous for her. Who wants to put their senior equine through such a serious dental surgery? But we did it and boy are we glad we did. Sassie may be gumming it (don't worry, she still has all her molars for grinding) but with a little bit of creative feeding she is looking and more importantly feeling great. Pain free is everything.

(Please note, if you are new here, this mare is my personal equine and has been with me long before Tomten began. All of her care is personally funded by me.)

11/19/2023

Tomten Farm and Sanctuary does such a great job with the overall care of their animals and even better, explaining it so well to their supporters!

Here is a quick overview of our most recent visit with them. We get to see these lovely horses and their hardworking caretakers at least twice a year.

It clearly shows as everyone there looks fantastic, even those in their older years.

Great job Tomten Farm and Sanctuary!